Cherry Tomatoes galore...

Picked these yesterday :) Man they taste so darn good :)

Cheers Damaris

Ckrickey!!!

Look what I found hiding under some leaves... A huge over grown squash!!! Guinea Pigs didn't like it but the chooks sure loved it :)

Cheers Damaris

Another square foot garden bed...

What went in...

Before planting...

Afterwards...

We have another one done now... Great to get it done and the seedlings out. Also lovely to see the flowers doing well and helping the good bugs and bees coming into the garden :)

Cheers Damaris

Always a first...

And this time it was tasting an Asparagus straight from the ground :)

Russell had mowed over the whole area where I had planted four plants about three years ago. Never really did anything with them and they always went to seed. This time seeing he mowed there with the slasher, little plants came up and I happen to see them as we were planting trees close by... So I snapped it off and ate it there and then... Had another one just like the first the next day as well. Yummmmm I must say. So wholesome :)

Bit nutty and know that I will never have it from a tin ever again :)

Cheers Damaris

Just like in the shops...

Russell is getting really great with raising seedlings... He has a hard time thinning out as it is so hard to say 'good-bye' to your hard work but he is getting there. He knows that in order to have strong ones survive one must sacrifice the ones that are not as strong. Still hard to do... They are looking really professional :) He is doing a great job... Very proud :)

Cheers Damaris

Water Chestnuts...

Have had them in the pot for three years so thought it was about time that I harvested them. Lol... The best time of year to do that is in May once all of the storks have browned off...

Anyway got 1.85kg out of the pot. Not bad considering I have done nothing but top up the water every now and then and they have basically looked after themselves. :)

Cheers Damaris

School's veggies :)

Lots of growing happening at school. :)

They are growing at an alarming rate :) No, not really. They are doing just what they should be doing :)

Was great to have a look after Parade at Maryvale State School last Friday to see what the veggies have been up to. Many more new seeds have been planted as well and seedlings are pushing their way through the surface :)

Great to see. :)

Cheers Damaris

Seeds have sprouted...

Watermelon seed germinated...

Timothy brought home some Watermelon Seeds a couple of weeks ago... He got the packet from a friend at Warwick State High School. What a thoughtful boy, I must say...

So down to the hothouse we went to see if they would germinate for us... They are not failsafe so we can't really eat them. We can challenge on them I guess and will but the majority will probably be bartered with or sold if Timothy has his way. hehe

Well these little seeds just about jumped out of the soil. They germinated and popped through within 8 days. Pretty much a record. Considering we didn't know if they were even viable they are going great guns. Just waiting for the second lot of true leaves and they can go out :)

Timothy, needless to say is very happy. :)

Cheers Damaris

Water Chestnuts...

Water Chestnuts growing... Loving all this rain...

This lot has been in for the third year now... I know shame on me... I keep going to harvest and then don't do it... This time I am determined to get them out when it is time... May next year that is... :)

Cheers Damaris

Broccoflower

This is what I found today at Woolworths... Can you believe they are doing this??? This is a cross between a Broccoli and Cauliflower...

I say leave nature alone already...

Cheers Damaris

More seedlings coming up...

Cabbage seedlings...

This morning I checked and there were more seedlings still coming up. Only a couple of leeks coming through and the Cabbage is going off... Celery is also on the slow side. Parsley is to show itself as yet. Shallots are doing well... Bit more warmer weather and they should go off with a bang :)

Cheers Damaris

Frogs are calling...

Oh, I soooo wanted to see a frog...

This little fellow was on our house wall couple of weeks ago... :)

When I planted out the potatoes last Tuesday, I also took the opportunity to go over our 8 acres as I wanted to see what sort of plant life we have after the winter and after the cows have now gone 9 months... I found a large bush right at the back, lots of native grass which Land for Wildlife says is very good for local species and quite a few of those horrible weedy bushes that have horrible heads on them with thousands of seeds in them. The seed heads pop when you squish them with your hands. Sounds like fun at the time but they make it allot harder for the next few years pulling out the baby plants. I pull those out whenever I see them.

I also found allot of water sitting behind one of our contour banks. In it there was a heap of reeds growing and all I could hear was frogs talking to one another in the middle of the day. Was wonderful to listen to :)

Was trying to be really, really quiet to see if I could see one but alas they knew I was there. In the distance I could still hear them croaking but not near me. Am so happy to have found their little playground though. Hope it doesn't dry up too quickly for them... Hope they lay eggs and have babies. :)

Cheers Damaris

Love the sound of Bees...

Our Rosemary out in flower. :)

Russell and I are really getting into it this year with planting all sorts of plants that will benefit the Bees... We would like to get our own Australian Native Stingless Bees as well as some Honey Bees. The honey I can use for bartering as not failsafe but more than anything I love to have the critters around.

We have our rosemary in full bloom at the moment and boy the bees are loving it. Anytime I go out to the backyard there they are buzzing away... Love it, love it, love it. :)

Cheers Damaris

Look what I found...

I am little and white :)

Usually whenever my Irises open their buds they come out with the colour purple... I now know that I have at least two plants that are white flowered. Yay!!! Very happy. :)

On another note, today I put in some seeds of Cabbage and Parsley. They are now growing in the hothouse. :) Also, I planted out 10 tyres today with potato seedlings. I cut some into three cuttings as they had such good amounts of eyes. Had to make sure I used them all. I planted out 35 cuttings in all. Here is hoping that they all grow and give us lots and lots of potato :)

Cheers Damaris

We have green bits...

Can you see the green bits???

In the hothouse that is. :) We have been waiting for over two weeks but it has been mostly cold so they are taking longer than we wished for...

The shallots are starting to push through the soil and showing us their greens. :) Yay... Mind you they are only about 1 cm tall but hey, gotta celebrate all life right??? hehe

Cheers Damaris

New seeds...

Our trays...

Last Sunday, Russell and I potted up a few trays with seeds for our veggie gardens. The are Leek, Celery and Shallots. Cabbage and Butter Beans and Parsley are yet to go in but will in the near future. :)

I love planting out and have made sure that I have a reminder in my phone every day for 8am so that I don't forget to water them. Last thing we need is for it all to dry up and die. Am so glad that we have the hot house. Plenty of room in there for all sorts of trays and plants. :)

Cheers Damaris

Time for a new gardenbed...

Square foot garden bed...

Well the old plants have come out and the new seeds are going in this week...

I really don't like pulling out plants that are still producing but they were looking sad and the Chooks really loved getting the last of the tomatoes and zucchini... This lot of veggies will also be Failsafe which will help us even more. The last lot was not...

In this one there will be:

Shallots, Leek, Cabbage, Parsley and garlic... They will grow slowly over winter and be ready in spring. Can't wait. :)

Cheers Damaris

Now what??? Chook food indeed...

Don't ask how he got it home... :)

Timothy came home really excited yesterday. He bought out a heap of veggies that he had harvested at school and wanted to show me them. They were mostly white zucchinis. He had worked hard at maintaining them and loved to take whatever he could home.

He shares mostly though as there are way too many veggies for our little family of four. When he brought them home I thought straight away: "What am I going to do with them???" We are not able to eat them as we are on the Elimination Diet. This means that we would have to let it go bad. Most of them were too big to give away as they would not have any flavour in them either.

In the end I made sure I gave lots and lots of praise but this morning once Timothy had left for school I did chop it all up and fed it to the chooks. You should have seen them and the ducks. They loved it all and did not leave anything behind. :)

Apparently they are growing watermelon at the moment... We are not able to eat that one either. Oh well, we will see how we go by the time they are ripe. We could use one as a challenge I guess. :)

Cheers Damaris

Don't do this at home...

Two big whoppers...

Russell went out and watered the veggies while I was making dinner on Sunday night and look at the piccy. That is what he came in with...

Way too overgrown. The zucchini cut up fine and would have been fine to cut smaller but this lot the chooks enjoyed. And the ducks actually. They love veggies... There would have been no taste to it and probably not even good to use as a filler. So the animals had them. Took two ice cream containers and a huge mixing bowl to fill and they had a feast all right. The boys loved watching them devour it. :)

Next time must check under the huge leaves a bit more so that we can pick them when they are still eatable...

Cheers Damaris

Veggies...

This is half the lettuce. It was huge...

At High school Timothy has been growing his own veggies since the beginning of the the school year. He has to tend to it, water it, weed around it and make sure there are no bugs etc...

Well he brought home his first lettuce last week and that night we ate half of it straight away. Yummy. He loved it that he could help with providing for the meal and loved telling us how he had looked after it. He also brought home some spinach. That one he had to share with others as there was not enough to go around the class otherwise, something that he did rather reluctantly.

Like it was his baby he tended to its needs. :) He has now asked for a small patch at home that he can look after starting in spring. What a great idea for high school to do that. We have always had veggies and fruit growing but not until they did it in school has he taken soooo much more of an interest. He wants to give growing Watermelon another go as he loves them and then also wants to sell surplus. Here is hoping. :)

Cheers Damaris